Eric Crenshaw believes in fate and that he was destined to create paintings depicting the emotion involved in the story of the Enterprise slave ship.
The ship left the port of Alexandria on Feb. 11, 1835, and was blown off course by a hurricane and landed in Hamilton, Bermuda, where a British Court freed 72 of the 78 slaves, who were held in appalling conditions on the Enterprise.
If you’ve followed the recent widespread war over the best chain-restaurant fried chicken sandwich on the market, there’s a new homegrown player in Old Town.
Reston-based Thompson Hospitality, the owner of Hen Quarter at 801 King Street, has converted the first floor of the restaurant into the southern-style restaurant The Rub. While the second floor is still devoted to Hen Quarter, the new establishment, which opened on Thursday (Jan. 17) offers five fried chicken sandwiches with fries ranging in price from $8.50 to $12.50. The sandwiches are all made to order and take about eight minutes to prepare.
As Virginia starts making progress towards the decriminalization of marijuana, one local business is working to make it easier to connect people to medical marijuana licenses.
Veriheal, based in Old Town, educates clients about medical cannabis and connects them to doctors who can get them approved for a medical marijuana license. The company works in 23 states with its structure changing based on state laws. Anthony Dutcher, marketing director for Veriheal, said they’re working to get started in Virginia.
Alexandria officials are still working through the details, but there’s an unmistakable air of excitement from city staff and leadership when it comes to turning part of King Street into a pedestrian-only zone.
The proposal would close one block of King Street — between Lee Street and Union Street — to car traffic on weekends and turn it into a pedestrian-only zone.
New Environmental Academy in Alexandria — “‘It’s that time of year again – Academy Time and there is a brand new Academy this Spring, the Eco-City Academy (promoting sustainability in the City), bringing the total to seven academies,’ exclaims Elaine Scott, Senior Community Liaison in the City’s Office of Communications and Public Relations.” [Zebra]
Seaport Foundation Looking to Expand — “The small, timber-frame building along Alexandria’s waterfront is noticeable — and it may be joined by another building as the Alexandria Seaport Foundation looks at expanding its space and services… The foundation wants to build a second waterfront building on the north side of the pier near their current location, allowing it to serve more youth and have space for larger projects.” [Alexandria Living]
Gwen Day-Fuller’s greatest memory is attending the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Lincoln Memorial.
On the sultry morning of Aug. 28, 1963, Day-Fuller went to the speech with her mother, Lucille Peatross-Day, and her aunt, Mary Stokes. The then 19-year-old was on her summer break from Hampton University, and she and her family were among 250,000 people who disregarded widespread warnings that there would be riots at the now-fabled March on Washington.
ACT for Alexandria tried something different with their approach to grant making this year: investing in local organizations that want to focus on racial equity and community engagement.
The community foundation recently awarded $106,500 to 10 Alexandria nonprofits and organizations, including a $10,000 racial equity grant to the Local Motion Project nonprofit dance studio at 2377 South Dove St.
Alexandria is one of more than a dozen localities in Virginia — including Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties — that will be receiving electric school buses by the end of 2020, Dominion Energy announced today.
The first phase of a project to replace diesel-powered buses entirely will start with distributing a total of 50 electric school buses to 16 school divisions spread out across the state. It’s unclear how many buses Alexandria will receive.
Starting this weekend, roughly 70 restaurants throughout Alexandria will start offering new specials on multi-course meals to get locals to try new places.
Alexandria’s Winter Restaurant Week is scheduled to run for just over a week, from tomorrow (Friday) through Sunday, (Jan. 26). The event, put together by Visit Alexandria, aims to showcase local chefs in areas throughout the city.
City of Alexandria facilities will be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 20.
All public offices will be closed, parking restrictions will be eased and trash will not be collected.
Absentee Voting Starts Today — “Absentee voting for Virginia’s March 3 Democratic Party Presidential Primary Election begins on Thursday, January 16. Many Alexandria voters are eligible to vote absentee.” [City of Alexandria]
Opening Nears for New Waterfront Coffee Shop — “According to Misha’s General Manager Graham McCulloch, the coffee roaster hopes to open their new waterfront location in April, weather and construction permitting. Misha’s new waterfront coffee shop, the company’s second location, will be at 6 Prince St., the former home of Olde Town Gemstones.” [Alexandria Living]
